Improvement in electro-magnetic billiard-game registers



1 l 8 0 8 2 PATENTED AUG 15 1871 Z..

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

GEORGE A. WEBSTER, OF ELGIN,

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO IIIMSELF AND DEAN S. NVEBSTEB, OI*l SAME ILAOE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,082, dated August 15, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. Elgin,in the county oiA Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electro-Magnetic Billiard-Game Registers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a front view of the dial employed in registering the number of games. Fig. 2 is a front view of the dial registering the number of points in each game. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the battery employed in actuating the moving parts operating the hand of the dial registering the games. Fig. 4t is an enlarged side elevation ofthe dial to indicate the number of games, showing the moving parts connected therewith. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same, showing those parts which are at the right hand of the line c a drawn vertically through Fig. a, and Eig. 6 is a vertical transverse section ofthe point indicating or re gistering-dial, showin g those parts the line x w drawn across Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the several gures of the drawing.

My invention has for its object to provide an electro-magnetic register, by which the number of games played upon a billiard-table may be transmitted to and registered upon a dial arranged within the ofice; and to this end it consists in the mechanism employed in the dial registering or indicating the separate points of the game; also in the construction of the parts employed in actuating the hand of the dial registering the respective games, and the whole of which said mechanism will be more fully understood from the following description:

In the drawing, A represents the case of the dial indicating the separate points in the game, which is composed of two circular disks, B and B', connected in the center in such a manner as to provide a span or opening between theirl inner sides, extending from the center outward to their periphery. Upon the front of disk B are two separate dials, d d', which are decimally arranged, corresponding with the number of separate points in each game.

C is the pointer to register or indiof the same which are at the left hand of cate the numbers on dial (Z, and is pivoted to the center ofthe disk and so arranged as to admit of being turned barkw ard or forward, the object being so as to discount the game when desired. I) Vis a lever, which is pivoted to the center ofthe disks betwecnthe same, and so arranged as to admit of being turned 'forward upon its center. Firmly affixed to the rear side of the said lever is a spring, c, which en gages a ratchet-wheel, E, affixed to the center ofthe disk,thereby preventing the lever from being turned backward. Iermanently affixed to the saidlever, near the periphcry of the disk, is a pointer,f, to indicate the desired figures on dial (I. F is a lever, which is afiixedto and within diskB, and to which lever is atta ched a wire, G, communi eatin g with th e battery. Tithin the end ofthe said lever is a platinum point, which is so arranged as to engage a metal plate, g, affixed to the outer surface of the said disk, and to which plate is attached a wire, G', which communicates with the battery through magnet II, shown in Fig. 4. J is the dial to register the nmnber of games played. K is the shaft upon which is mounted the pointer 7L to indicate the desired numbers on dial J. L is the armature, which is secured within guides or ways t' t' afliXed to the inner sides of the frame-work M, and is so arranged as to admit of a free-and-easy vertical movement. Aftixed to the center and upper surface oi' the said armature is a coiled spring, 7', the ripper end of which is secured to one of the crossbars of the frame and so arranged as to raise the armature from the magnet when the circuit is broken. N is a ratchet-wheel, which is iirmly secured upon shaft K, and the teeth of which wheel are graduated corresponding with the numbers upon the dial. O is a p awl-lever, which is pivoted at its lower extremity to the lower portion of the armature, and is so arranged as to engage the teeth of wheel M, and thereby, as the said armature is drawn downward by the action of the magnet, the said wheel is moved upon its arch one span forward, and is iirmly secured in a iixed position by a pawl, I, which engages the opposite side of the wheel, thereby allowing the pawl-lever O to be raised by the upward movement ofthe armature as the circuit is broken. B is a metal weight, which is attached to a cord, on, firmly secured to and around shaft K, the object of which is to move the shaft backward to its normal position as it has made its revolution. Af-

iiXed to the lower end of pawllever O and pawl P is a cord, a, passing downward through an aperture in the end of an arm, S, which is secured to the side ofthe frame, and as said cord is drawn downward the pawls are disengaged from the wheel, thereby allowing the same to be moved backward by the weight ofthe weight R.

In arranging my invention for operation, the dial registering the number of points in the game is suspended from the ceilingl above the table, and the dial with its mechanism registering the number of games is placed within the oiiice, and both dials are then connected bythe wires through the battery, as described.

The operation is as follows: The players, in counting' the points in the game, move the respective pointers around upon the dial, which registers the number of points each has made, and as lever D carrying pointers f is brought in contact with lever F a contact is made with plate g, thereby closing the circuit, by which means armature L is moved downward in contact with magnet H, thus moving ratchet-wheel N oi' shaft K one tooth i'orward bythe downward movement of pawl-lever O, by which pointer h is moved one number forward upon the dial,there game, and as said lever l) is the contact with plate g is the circuit, and armature by indicating one moved from lever lf broken, thus breaking' L is raised by the action of springj, thus moving pawl-lever O back to its normal position preparatory to indicating another game, which is repeated until the pointer la has made one complete revolution. Cord a is then drawn down.- ward, which disengages pawls O and l? from ratchet-wheel N of shaft K, thereby allowing said shaft to be moved backward by the weight lt preparatory to a second revolution of the registering or indicating-hand h.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In an electro-magnetic billiard-game register, the lever l), arranged to open and close the circuit, substantially as described.

2. In combination with lever l), the pointers C and f, arranged points upon the dials d and df, substantially as described.

The combination of magnet H, armatures L, pawl-lever O, pawl l), ratchet-wheel N, shalt K, and pointer l1, the whole arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose described.

GEORGE A. TEBSlEl-t.

Vitnesses:

N H. SHERBURNE, N. C. GRIDLEY.

to indicate the number or' 

